The Charger: Tesla Motors' Revolutionary Electric Car

BREAKTHROUGH AWARDS 2006: Innovators Martin Eberhard and Team

"Driving range has been the Achilles' heel of electric cars," says Martin Eberhard, CEO of Tesla Motors. So the Silicon Valley engineer-and creator of the Rocket eBook-built a $100,000 electric sports car, the Tesla Roadster, using the ultimate laptop battery: a 6831-cell lithium-ion configuration that can propel the car 250 miles between charges. Equally important is the 248-hp polyphase AC motor. "Electric cars don't have to be goofy economy putt-putt cars," says Eberhard, who plans to follow the Roadster with more practical, lower-cost vehicles. "If we can change people's mind-set about what an electric car is, it opens up opportunity for other models."